China, Indonesia vow to back Palestine’s UN membership bid

ANKARA

China and Indonesia on Thursday pledged their support for Palestine to become a member of the UN ahead of a UN Security Council vote.

“Both China and Indonesia will fully support Palestine’s full membership at the UN,” Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi told reporters after his meeting in Jakarta with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, local English daily Jakarta Globe reported.

Wang, for his part, urged the US, a key ally of Israel, to “put aside its ego, and listen carefully to what the international community says.”

“I believe American government officials should learn basic knowledge,” he added.

In late March, the US abstained from voting, allowing the UN Security Council to pass the 2728 resolution, which called for an immediate cease-fire during the remainder of the holy month of Ramadan. However, the resolution could not stop Israel from incessant bombings of hospitals and other civilian structures in the besieged enclave.

Wang said: “The US called the resolution ‘non-binding’, and the world was very shocked by what the US said. This shows that to the US, international law is only a tool they use as they want. The UN Charter has stated that the security council’s resolutions are binding to all UN members.”

The UN Security Council will vote on Thursday on a draft resolution for Palestine to become a full UN member.

The resolution requires nine votes in favor to pass with a condition that none of the five permanent members – the US, the UK, France, Russia and China – votes against.

Once Palestine gets the council’s recommendation, it will need a two-thirds majority vote of the 193-member UN General Assembly before it can become a full member.

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